Christmas Day

Oh Christmas Day... what a fun and exhausting day it was. This was the first year the Kennedy truly understood the the "Santa Claus" factor. I wonder if we can still use the "Santa class is watching so you better be a nice girl" routine for the next 360+ days?

Also, this year was the first time that we stayed at our own house on Christmas morning (it was great by the way). My brothers were out of the state with their wives, so my parents and Cassie came over with my grandmother in the morning to open presents, eat breakfast casserole, and polish off my grandmother's coffee cake (sadly we came VERY close to eating the entire thing).

We went to Molly's parents around noon, opened presents and continued the festivities. We knew that Kennedy needed a nap when she wanted some "alone" time while everybody else opened presents. She was EXHAUSTED... and was soon napping with her sister and cousin (in separate rooms... but we timed the naps perfectly for a few minutes of adult time).

After some good times and GOOD steaks at the McHughs, we headed home to crash in our bed. At 8:30 it felt like 11:00 at night.














Kennedy takes a picture with Amy (left) and Abby (right). Abby is the new addition to the family thanks to my mom. She happens to be an exact twin, except that she has brown hair.















Cassie displays her gift to Ansley. She made her a special "reversible" sign at a pottery store (?). Cassie is very thoughtful, crafty, and Martha Stewart-ish. Thanks Cas.














I figured out how to use the timer and we took a family picture at the McHughs (minus Joe and Liz).















Kennedy lounges with 2 of her aunts, Katie and Emily, after a long Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas. May you have a blessed day with family and friends today. Remember the reason for the season... Jesus was God's gift to us.

Cookies

Uncle Kyle and Aunt Becky scored some mega brownie points a couple of weeks ago when they decided to host the 1st annual cookie-making party (we haven't told you guys, but you are doing this next year... but we are LEAVING the kids with you [j-k]). Thanks guys... we had a blast.

It was a fun time filled with sugary dough, sprinkles, gum drops, and an assortment of other cookie-related items.

Sugar rush aside, Kennedy actually took a decent nap after we got home. She must have been reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly tired.














Uncle Kyle, Chef Kennedy, and Aunt Becky take a break from "cookie making" to take a quick picture.















Kennedy "samples" one of her cookies.





















Guess who made this cookie? Can you say "sugar rush?"





















Ansley is on the move.

First Snow Day

A couple of Sundays ago, we woke up to a blanket of snow, perfect for snowball fights and snowmen. So what did we do? I played outside with Kennedy and we ended up missing church (whoops). As much as Kennedy hated the snow last year, she loved it this time. We had a mini snowball fight (I think she packed rocks into her snowballs), made a snowman, and she let me drag her down the sidewalk for a wagon ride. The best part about playing in the snow is drinking hot chocolate after you get inside. Why is this?

Anyway, it was an awesome time and I look forward to more fun in the cold. Next time, I plan on weighing Kennedy with her snow gear on (and without it) to see how much weight she adds with all of her gear.

Fun times.





















Another picture to humor me. Sadly, Frosty melted today in the warmer temperatures. I mention this because I was looking out my bathroom window and was wondering why we had a carrot, 2 sticks, and several pieces of mulch sitting on our rain-soaked deck. Duh.














Ansley isn't a big fan of the cold weather.














... and still doesn't

Furnace Issues

After considering a variety of topics to be the focus of tonight's blog, I have decided to write about our furnace issues. Exciting eh? For the last year-and-a-half or so, our furnace has made loud and painful grinding sounds throughout the day and night. At times, the furnace has decided to randomly shut off in the middle of the night, waking me up at 2 am in the morning with Molly asking me if she thinks the house is cold. As much as I love waking up in the middle of the night to my own self-imposed night terrors (I have severe sleep walking issues), Kennedy jumping in our bed, or my increasing number of bathroom breaks (yeah, I'm old), I have not enjoyed waking up to a freezing house.

As the husband of a lovely wife and father of 2 lovely daughters, I probably should have just paid the overpriced charge to have my furnace fixed by a reputable Heating and Air service. I even had the furnace checked out when the furnace was under warranty... but they said that "nothing was wrong." Okay, not true.

So, in fastforwarding to last week, my dad happened to be at our house and had the opportunity to hear the horrible sound that comes out of our furnace room. He said: "You really need to get that fixed." And for once, he was right (j-k dad). Over the next couple of days our furnace shut off about 2 times per day and I would fix it by repeatedly hitting the on/off switch until the furnace magically stayed on. Luckily, my new best friend Joe (see previous post about my car), who has helped fix many car issues, told me he could fix the furnace by ordering a new part. After finding this part for $225 at a local store, he found it on E-bay for $115 and gave me the following choice: 1) Pay more for the part and ensure that your family won't freeze if the furnace breaks down; or 2) Save $100, order the part off of Ebay, and roll the dice about my furnace not dying while we waited for the part to arrive.

So of course I told him to order the part off of Ebay. For the past two days, God has kept our furnace running as noisily as ever, even though the temperature is below 17 degrees.

For fun, I took some video of our furnace today so you could get the "experience." Also, pray that our furnace lives another couple of days.

Anybody want a new Vue?

Okay, maybe it's not a new Vue, but it could be new to you. Withouth making this story too long, our Vue died about 6 weeks ago, a week after we had finished 5 years of payments. Nice timing huh? Anyway, after we received the estimate to fix the transmission ($6300), we decided to buy a new car (a Saab... I'll blog about this another day... we got a good deal).

I skipped lots of details but that's okay... after lots of drama and the process of finding a new car, we entered the world of Ebay. After I posted our car for sale, I later realized I had posted it as an advertisement instead of a bid item. So... after paying an additional fee to place the car on Ebay again, we were officially in business. We started the bidding at $500 and are now up to $1350. If anybody would like to place a bid of $10,000 or so, please be our guest! :)

If you get bored, you can track the sale at Ebay / Item number: 190271471006.

Good times, stay warm everybody. And pray that our furnace doesn't shut down tonight (another story for another day).

Finally, I posted some of the pictures from our Ebay ad for your entertainment.

Thanksgiving

Is there a better holiday than Thanksgiving? No presents, mulitiple football games, an excuse to eat a 4000+ calorie meal, and an excuse to take a nap? I don't think so...

We had another awesome Thanksgiving this year, spending the morning at my parents and then going to Molly's parents for our 2nd meal of the day. It was a great day, but exhausting.














Yes, I am the guy who cuts the turkey in the house each year. And no, I couldn't find another apron in the house.














Ansley and Toby.




















Kennedy helps Gigi dry the dishes.




















Emily and Kennedy enjoy playing the piano together. Don't you love the look on Kennedy's face? "Come on dad... enough already."

Post-Game Nap

This picture was captured after I got back from the Colts game last weekend. Coincidentally, I am watching the Colts play the Chargers right now.

It was my first game at Lucas Oil stadium, and because I'm old, I needed a napafter the game. Lucky for me (yet unlucky for Molly), Kennedy had not taken a nap for the entire afternoon and couldn't resist curling up next to me for a short nap. Not only did we both take a great nap, but I got to watch more football before falling asleep.

(editor's note: this picture was posted mainly to prove that I don't mind posting embarassing pictures of myself.)

Remember the warm weather?

Remember the days of 75-degree weather? What feels like several months was actually only a few weeks ago (see below).

Secondly, I apologize for the lack of blogs in the recent few weeks. We've been pretty busy and I have basically been a slacker. However, look forward to a future blog where I talk about us paying our car off and then how the transmission blew up a few days later, leaving us with a bill for $6300. Of course we didn't fix it, we are still looking for a new car. Good times huh?

Anyway, God is good and it's encouraging to know that although I have VERY little control of the events in my life, I know that God will give us the strength to deal with any situation that happens. I fully believe that something good can (and will) come out of every situation. So although we have to buy a new car, can you imagine a better time to haggle with shady car salesman?

Stay tuned.

Little Mommy (or Molly)

This is probably not a shock to most of you, but Kennedy is a tiny version of her mother (except that she has blue eyes and blonde hair). Kennedy sponges Molly's mannerisms, phrases, and everything else she does. In fact, they share many unique qualities, such as being obsessive compulsive, having Type A personalities, and having a love for clothes. Tonight I got a glimpse into my future as Molly and Kennedy had a spirited debate about some of the clothes in Kennedy's closet. Like mother like daughter. And I love it.

Like her mom, she loves her babies and loves to take care of them. In the picture below, she is talking to her baby Jane.

Boys and girls are so different. At this age, I was smashing matchbox cars, crafting swords and guns out of sticks, and throwing rocks at everthing.

Pinheads

Tonight was a great night for several reasons (and yes, I love lists for some reason). Also, if you don't know, Pinheads is a bowling/pizza/arcade type of place:

1) We spent time with good friends that we do not get to see very often.
2) I had appetizer food for dinner. Yum. And sorry Ansley for eating your potato skin that apparently your mom planned on giving you for dinner (yes, we have a very rigorous and healthy meal plan for our children).
3) I witnessed Ryan win 200 tickets at the "Deal or No Deal" game. And what can you win with 200 tickets? A gigantic teddy bear? Large quantities of candy? Anything worth more than a dollar? No.... in fact I am sure that every prize item can be found at your local dollar store.
4) We had a "blog" reunion (yes, we are all blogger dorks). And yes, I am one of the few male bloggers Don't question my manhood.
5) Ryan and I took the "high road" and chose to overlook a broken machine, where a door swung open to reveal hundreds (that's right, HUNDREDS) of tickets. I wonder if we would have made the same choice if our kids weren't with us? Hmmmmmm..............
6) We got home safe and sound.














Ansley loved hanging out with Luke. He is a sweet kid and made her belly laugh.





















Can we have some more tokens dad?





















Finn's hair did not let us down. And no, he does not use gel.














Courtney and the boys.

Surprise, it's a "bunny" halloween

As far as Halloween goes, this year was a very good for a few reasons:

1) It was the first year that Kennedy understood the important things about Halloween, such as face paint, staying up late, eating candy for dinner, and being scared by dad's wig.
2) The weather was seasonably warm (high 60's?).
3) I wore my $2.00 garage sale, blue feux leather shoes that Molly swore I would never wear (see below).
4) We found out that Noni scares Ansley with her frog hat (just kidding... at least at first).

We also learned more about the arduous process of picking the right costume. While I was at work, Kennedy's costume went from a princess, to a "kitty princess", and she finally ended up as a bunny (I know, no surprises).




















Who likes wearing face paint? I DO!















Our professional make-up artist works her magic.





















My daughter has years of embarassment ahead of her.















The girls: Noni, Kennedy, and of course, our professional make-up artist, mommy.

Fall is here

Last Saturday I loaded up the family car and headed to the IHSAA semi-state cross country meet at Northview Christian Church to cheer on Fishers H.S. It turned out that the weather is no longer the 75-degree weather we experienced a few weeks ago... the weather was in the mid to upper 40's. Anyway, it was cold. Coooooooooooooooooold.

The pictures below show some of the pictures taken at the meet (and our house after we got back). The day was great until we were driving back from dinner at Molly's parents and our transmission stopped working. It is now sitting at the Saturn dealership in Fishers... anyway, I digress. It was a great day.















I love this picture of Molly and Ansley... especially the reds in the tree to the left.





















I got a workout at the cross country meet with both girls on my back.





















Two cuties... Kennedy and mom















A good view of the finish line